Black men are increasingly underrepresented in medical schools and in the medical profession. A diverse workforce is a key attribute of quality healthcare and research suggests that a diverse workforce may help to advance cultural competency and increase access to high-quality health care, especially for underserved populations. Conversely, lack of diversity in the health workforce threatens health care quality and access and contributes to health disparities. In this way, the growing absence of Black men in medicine is especially troubling, because their absence in medicine may have adverse consequences for health care access, quality, and outcomes among Black Americans and Americans overall.

To better understand the factors that contribute to the low participation of Black men in the medical profession, facilitate discussion of current strategies used to increase their participation in medical education, and explore new strategies along the educational and professional pipeline that may have potential to increase participation in medicine, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the Cobb Institute jointly convened a 2-day workshop in November 2017, in Washington, DC. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Contents

• The National Academies of SCIENCES • ENGINEERING • MEDICINE
• PLANNING COMMITTEE ON INCREASING AFRICAN AMERICAN MALES IN THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
• Reviewers
• Acronyms and Abbreviations
• 1. Introduction
  • OPENING REMARKS
  • ORGANIZATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS
• 2. Keynote Presentations
  • OPENING KEYNOTE
    Louis Sullivan.
  • THE PERSPECTIVE FROM ACADEMIC MEDICINE
    Darrell G. Kirch, President and Chief Executive Officer.
  • DISCUSSION
• 3. Exploring the Challenges and Barriers for Black Men Along the Life Trajectory
  • RACISM
    Camara Jones, Senior Fellow.
  • REFLECTIONS ON BARRIERS TO BECOMING A PHYSICIAN
    Roger Mitchell, Jr., Chief Medical Examiner.
  • MENTAL HEALTH AND RESILIENCY IN THE LIVES OF BLACK MEN
    Arthur C. Evans, Jr., Chief Executive Officer.
  • DISCUSSION
• 4. Exploring the Challenges and Barriers for Black Men Along the Educational Trajectory
  • MENTORING IN MEDICINE
    Lynne Holden, President and Chief Executive Officer.
  • MEN OF COLOR
    Walter J. Lanier, Director.
  • CHALLENGES ALONG THE EDUCATIONAL PIPELINE
    C. Reynold Verret, President.
  • IDEAS TO POTENTIALLY ADDRESS THE SHORTAGE OF BLACK MEN IN MEDICINE
    L. D. Britt, Henry Ford Professor and Edward J. Brickhouse Chairman.
  • DISCUSSION
  • REFERENCES
• 5. Current Innovative and Exploratory Strategies to Support Entry into Science and Medicine for Black Men
  • MEYERHOFF SCHOLARS PROGRAM
    Freeman Hrabowski, III, President.
  • VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AFRICAN AMERICAN AND DISADVANTAGED STUDENT PIPELINE PROGRAM
    André L. Churchwell and Levi Watkins, Jr., Chair and Chief Diversity Officer Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Senior Associate Dean for Diversity Affairs.
  • THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY BELL NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER ON THE AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE
    James L. Moore, III, Interim Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, Executive Director, Todd A. Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male, Distinguished Professor of Urban Education.
  • AETNA HEALTH PROFESSIONS PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE (HPPI) SCHOLARS DOCTORS PIPELINE
    Marja Hurley, Professor of Medicine and Orthopedics, UConn School of Medicine, Associate Dean for Health Career Opportunity Programs.
  • HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL OFFICE FOR DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP
    Joan Y. Reede, Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership.
  • DISCUSSION
• 6. Reflections on Meeting Day 1
  • REFLECTIONS
    Valerie Montgomery Rice, President and Dean.
  • DISCUSSION
  • POSTER SESSION: INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO BLACK MEN IN MEDICINE (STUDENT PERSPECTIVES)
• 7. Accountability in Medicine: What Can Medical Schools Do to Address the Crisis?
  • OPENING REMARKS
    Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
  • ACCOUNTABILITY IN MEDICINE
  • DISCUSSION
• 8. Financial Barriers to Medical Education
  • NATIONAL MEDICAL FELLOWSHIPS
    Esther R. Dyer, President and Chief Executive Officer.
  • THE JACKSON/MINTON SCHOLARSHIP FUND
    Joseph B. Hill, Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer.
  • FINANCIAL BARRIERS TO MEDICAL EDUCATION FROM THE STUDENT PERSPECTIVE
    Michael Knight, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Patient Safety Officer.
  • DISCUSSION
• 9. Approaches from Philanthropy
  • BURROUGHS WELLCOME FUND
    Alfred M. Mays, Program Officer, Science Education and Diversity in Science.
  • THE COMMONWEALTH FUND
    David Blumenthal, President.
  • ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION
    John Lumpkin, Senior Vice President.
  • DISCUSSION
• 10. Approaches from Government
  • NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH AND ENGAGING NEW PARTNERS
    Hannah A. Valantine, Chief Officer, Scientific Workforce Diversity, and Senior Investigator.
  • HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES ADMINISTRATION HEALTH WORKFORCE PRIORITIES AND PROGRAMS
    Luis Padilla, Associate Administrator, Bureau of Health Workforce.
  • DISCUSSION
• 11. Reflections on the Workshop and Final Thoughts
  • REFLECTIONS ON THE WORKSHOP
  • GENERAL DISCUSSION ON INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS AND FINAL THOUGHTS
• APPENDIXES
  • A. Workshop Agenda
  • B. Speaker Biographies

Rapporteur: Cato T. Laurencin.

Suggested citation:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. An American crisis: The growing absence of Black men in medicine and science: Proceedings of a joint workshop between the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: https://doi.org/10.17226/25130.